Colombo-Kashi flight to boost India-Sri Lanka ties

LUCKNOW/VARANASI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka has come out with a new boosting policy for the neighboring nation.

A direct flight between Colombo and Varanasi is proposed to influence an ancient cultural connection and tap India’s soft power potential in boosting ties with Sri Lanka and checking China’s influence in the island nation.

Modi’s announcement during his ongoing visit to Sri Lanka was immediately welcomed by Buddhist monks in Varanasi and is expected to give a fillip to spiritual tourism along the Buddhist circuit.Not only will the flight make the journey from PM Modi’s constituency to the Sri Lankan capital cheaper by about 40%, it will also reduce travel time to just about five hours.

Apart from the tourism and cultural aspects, the air connection is in sync with Modi’s consistent focus on using India’s Buddhist legacy in diplomacy and outflanking China’s big economic overtures to the sub-continent such as the Hambantota port in Sir Lanka.